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Talk:Don't Look Back/@comment-5483266-20150920025733
Seriously though, I don't have enough fingers to count the number of times a fandom has collectively shat on a canon relationship to worship their crackOTP, which more often than not involves two conventionally attractive white dudes (one of whom is straight, while the other's sexual orientation is left ambiguous). And in the rare cases of narrative arcs involving a woman of colour as a love interest (which should be a fucking triumph considering how little representation we get as fully realized human beings whom deserve to be loved), the fandom will go apeshit for the white male lead paired with a white woman with whom there is absolutely no plausible or organic romantic chemistry/development/potential. Let's look at some examples, shall we? Exhibit A: Snowbarfy vs. Westallen *Barry and Iris have had over fifteen years of buildup. They've been best friends since early childhood and Barry is hopelessly, desperately in love with Iris. This is reinforced again and again by the writing. Iris is literally Barry's driving force to be The Flash. Her unwavering faith in him is all he needs to get by. FFS, they even get married in the future! They have a guaranteed endgame! *Enter Snowbarfy, who aren't even a thing but fans who conveniently ~dislike Iris~ also happen to ship these two despite that Caitlin is engaged to and later marries her fiancé, and Barry's head over heels for Iris and can't seem to move on even when he tries (which he NEVER does with Caitlin, oops). They are co-workers and teammates, but that's about the extent of their relationship. Yet some racist shitholes started shipping them as soon as Candice was cast as Iris and when the only Snowbarfy footage released was of her telling him to urinate in a cup (HOW ROMANTIC!!) Exhibit B: Sterek vs. like every other ship on this godforsaken show but especially Stydia/Stalia and Derek/every girl he's expressed romantic interest in *Sterek share a problematic, unhealthy, and combative dynamic. Derek, for all his Grumpy Cat-emulating brooding, is as straight as straight can be and has only ever tolerated Stiles. While the contrast in demeanor and personality between Sterek as individuals is admittedly amusing, there is no romantic basis in any of their interactions together. *Stydia, however, have over five years of beautiful character and pairing development. Stiles has been in love with her since the third grade and Lydia, over time, comes to reciprocate those feelings, but not before establishing a strong friendship with him first that effectively transcends her initial misconceptions about him. They have a powerful, emotional bond unlike any other (they literally feel each other's pain, jfc) which will only manifest in romance from here. As popular as they are, so many Sterek shippers are vocal enough to overshadow them because they're positively SALIVATING for slash ships. This type of relentless fetishization of homosexuality is actually rather dehumanizing as they'd prefer to discard all the elements that come with healthy, functional relationships just to see two hot dudes making out. (Also dat age difference tho. Just saying) Exhibit C: Clexa vs. Bellarke * Now, I acknowledge that Clexa isn't nearly as bad as certain other LGBT ships (here's looking at you, Triles and Gracevas) because at least Clarke is a good, humanizing influence on Lexa and the writing for them is light years better than anything current Degrassi can come up with. However, Clexa share a toxic history tainted with the blood of Clarke's first love and whatever feelings Lexa may have for Clarke still aren't strong enough to supersede her loyalty to her clan. The Grounders will always come first to Lexa. Clarke is just a pleasant afterthought. *Meanwhile, Bellarke share all the positive attributes of Clexa minus the bad blood. Clarke and Bellamy are both leaders but their bond is one forged in respect, trust, and equality. They make sacrifices for each other, learn to compromise and stabilize each other. There are undercurrents of tender, unspoken love in their interactions that get progressively stronger as the show moves forward. Exhibit D: Bethyl vs. Caryl *I haven't even caught up on TWD but I already know that Bethyl as written on the show are nothing more than platonic. Daryl cares for Beth as an uncle would his niece and takes her under his wing. He gives her a comforting hug when Beth is grieving for the death of a child, yet this scene is constantly taken out of context so that the fangirls can squee over the sight of their Sugar Papi touching the young, beautiful, blonde girl - there's even a gif petulantly urging Beth to "#getthed" in this very scenario..ick. (because according to many ageist fans, Carol is too decrepit and old to be loved by Daryl even though the age gap is just a fraction of the 15 or so years that separate their beloved Bethyl. Whoops.) *Caryl are the very definition of romantic subtext yet are often overlooked and taken for granted by fans who want to see Daryl with someone more youthful and conventionally beautiful (some, not all, ofc). In doing so, they conveniently dismiss the epic Caryl reunion in which Daryl, the man conditioned to be stoic and unyielding in the face of emotion, openly CRIES and pulls her into an embrace that all but spell out his love for her. They are so in sync with each other that they can communicate without speaking, they are friends, allies, and partners that overcome and survive adversity together, and they understand each other with a profundity that can't be seen in the rival ship. Exhibit E: Merther vs. Arwen *I ship Merther both romantically and platonically myself, but definitely not at the expense of Arthur/Gwen, who are absolutely beautiful together. As much as I love Merther and believe in them, Arthur's relationship with Gwen is just as touching. Arthur's love for Gwen constitutes a great deal of his evolution as a character, and he becomes a fair, just, and honourable king under her influence. Without Gwen, Arthur would not be half the man he grows up to be. Gwen teaches him humility and he, in turn, makes her his Queen. Their love is tragic, but real all the same. *Merlin has the same effect on Arthur and indeed is bound to him by destiny, but Merther fans consciously choose to ignore Gwen's presence and role in Arthur's development. That she is black (and according to some ignorant af people, black people did not exist in the Medieval Ages lol) is of course a reason for her marginalization. It's extremely telling that the one ship that is explicitly written as romantic isn't contextualized as such by the fandom whereas a deep friendship and alliance between two ostensibly straight white males is immediately placed on a pedestal for their homoeroticism.